I met Christopher Hitchens only once. It was in 2007, at BookExpo America, the publishing industry trade show, where we both were on a panel about the ethics of book reviewing. Hitchens, who died Thursday of esophageal cancer at age 62, dismissed the very premise of the discussion — ethics, he suggested, was a matter of action more than intention. To illustrate the point, he told the story of someone who had reviewed one of his early efforts badly; when, sometime later, Hitchens was asked to review a book by the same writer, he jumped at the chance.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday appointed as head of California's political ethics agency a judge who has overseen the discipline of attorneys. Jodi Remke, presiding judge of the State Bar Court of California, is Brown's choice for chairwoman of the state Fair Political Practices Commission. Her appointment fills a void created six months ago when Chairwoman Ann Ravel moved to the Federal Elections Commission. Good-government activists including Robert Stern, a former general counsel for the California agency and a coauthor of the state Political Reform Act, said they knew nothing about Remke.

Playing private detective for a day, state Sen. Tom Hayden's staff captured Gov. Pete Wilson's director of fish and game and one of his top deputies on videotape as they fished during business hours last week with a lawyer who is trying to loosen the state's endangered species protection laws.

State senators and their aides spent Wednesday discussing ethics, but it wasn't all dry reading from handbooks. Ethics experts came up with several “hypotheticals for discussion.” They include: "Senator publishes Top 10 items on his personal bucket list on Facebook. Lobbyist Employer's government affairs representative who is a FB friend of the Senator sees the Facebook posting and posts the following FB message, 'We can help you achieve...

Re "Let's get the truth about fracking," Column, June 10 Michael Hiltzik's column on hydraulic fracking brought to the surface the despicable practice of energy companies maximizing profit at any price. The bottom line has no ethics and apparently neither do the company managers who try to hide the environmental impact of extracting oil and natural gas using the method Hiltzik describes. It's almost comical that they won't disclose the chemicals they use in fracking, obviously because these same chemicals are poisoning water supplies.

Re "Wells Fargo sales quotas come at cost," Dec. 22 From 1996 to 2002, I worked at a Wells Fargo branch in Brentwood. My experience was just as The Times reported for other workers. I was criticized numerous times for not selling according to the bank's wishes. Contrary to the bosses' demands, I chose not to push products on people who did not want or need things like loans or credit cards. Customers were called in the evenings, as the article describes. Employees misbehaved.

The Supreme Court is different from lower federal courts, and not just because its rulings can't be appealed. Another difference is that its justices are exempt from the ethical standards imposed on judges in less lofty positions. That's an unjustifiable anomaly that Congress should rectify. The Code of Conduct for United States Judges was established by the U.S. Judicial Conference and covers all federal lower court judges. Among other things, the code says that "a judge should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities.

They say all press is good press, but when restaurateurs Rachel Thomas and Coly Den Haan read a nasty blind item about their downtown Los Angeles wine bar the Must on local food blog Eater LA, they were furious. "I was flabbergasted," Den Haan says. "I wanted to pass out. I didn't know what to do. I think freaking out is a pretty good word to describe it."

"General Dynamics: A Laboratory for Ethics" (Viewpoints, Dec. 29) could be a milestone for the aerospace industry. Earl Cheit should carry his helpful advice to the prime practitioner of ethical misconduct--the U.S. government. As he may be aware, it was President Harry S. Truman's Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington who tried to force Northrop Aircraft out of business when Northrop refused his demand to merge with the predecessor to today's General Dynamics. "Lead by example"--indeed.

SACRAMENTO -- State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) bemoaned the "subtle and insidious impact" of money in politics on Wednesday. His comments came after criminal investigations that have resulted in the unprecedented suspensions of three state senators, and in the midst of an election year that will likely feature tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending. Steinberg and Senate Republican leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) spoke with reporters near the Capitol after a series of conversations among senators about ethical guidelines and proper fund-raising.

SACRAMENTO -- With ethics scandals rocking the Capitol, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday appointed as the new head of California's ethics watchdog agency a judge who has overseen the discipline of attorneys. Joann M. “Jodi” Remke, who is presiding judge of the State Bar Court, is Brown's choice to serve as chairwoman of the state Fair Political Practices Commission. The appointment fills a void created six months ago when Chairwoman Ann Ravel was appointed to the Federal Election Commission.

SACRAMENTO - Stirred up by a series of Capitol scandals, four candidates for California secretary of state clashed at a forum Wednesday over who is best suited to restore voter faith in state government. Candidates Alex Padilla, Dan Schnur, Pete Peterson and Derek Cressman also challenged one another's ideas for reducing the corrupting influence of big money in state government. The event sponsor, the Sacramento Press Club, did not invite the three other candidates for the job . State Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima)

SACRAMENTO -- A month after suspending three lawmakers convicted of or facing criminal charges, the state Senate on Wednesday is devoting the day to reviewing ethics rules and introspection about what constitutes proper behavior for public officials. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) has canceled all regular committee meetings so that every senator and staff member can attend sessions to refresh their memories on ethics rules. The unprecedented action comes just weeks after the Senate voted to suspend Democratic state Sens.

SACRAMENTO - A raft of bills to set tougher ethics rules for California politicians cleared their first legislative hurdle Tuesday as the state Senate prepared for a daylong refresher course on standards of conduct. Lawmakers say better adherence to existing rules and tougher restrictions in the future are needed to win back the public's trust after three state senators were charged with crimes. Eleven proposals approved by a Senate committee included a ban on fundraising during the end of legislative sessions, when decisions on many key issues are made; a reduction in the value of gifts that officials may accept; and a prohibition on such items as spa treatments, golf games, concert and professional sports tickets, theme park admissions and gift cards.

Los Angeles' Ethics Commission is calling for an increase in public funding available to candidates seeking city office. The city currently provides $2 for each dollar a candidate raises in primary elections, and $4 for each dollar contributed in two-way runoffs in general elections. On Thursday, the panel recommended the city match be increased to $6 in both primary and general elections. "You want to allow people to talk to constituents, not just donors, and I think that increasing the match will reduce the amount of time you have to spend fundraising," said Jessica Levinson, vice president of the commission and a professor at Loyola Law School.

I worked, lived and breathed Hollywood for nearly 39 years. "Ethics of Hollywood" indeed! Yet another possible oxymoron waiting in the wings for a grand entrance. And in Calendar, another empty column-filler that presumes to review the scruples of the biggest symbol of decadent sensibility since Rome. From the abortions that Hollywood calls "movies," it's easy to imagine its interest, prurient and financial. Is Calendar trying to tell us something we haven't been exposed to, ad nauseam ?

SACRAMENTO -- The chairman of the state Senate's ethics panel looking into actions of Sen. Ronald S. Calderon said Thursday that allegations against the Democratic lawmaker contained in a leaked FBI affidavit are troubling if true. Sen. Richard Roth (D-Riverside) convened the first meeting of the Committee on Legislative Ethics behind closed doors Thursday morning and members received a briefing on committee powers as well as the Legislature's standards of conduct. The panel has been tasked with looking at allegations, contained in a leaked FBI affidavit, that Calderon took $88,000 in bribes from an undercover FBI agent and a businessman to affect legislation to extend film-industry tax credits and to change workers' compensation laws.

The goal of the Los Angeles Times is to publish a newspaper of the highest quality. This requires The Times to be, above all else, a principled newspaper. Making it so is the responsibility of every staff member. In deed and in appearance, journalists at The Times must keep themselves - and the newspaper - above reproach. The ways a newspaper can discredit itself are beyond calculation; these guidelines do not purport to cover them all. It is up to staff members to master these general principles and, beyond that, to listen carefully to their individual sense of right and wrong.

SACRAMENTO - The arrest of a front-runner in the race for California secretary of state on corruption charges has made ethics a key issue for the seven candidates still in the contest. State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) quit the race after his arrest last month on charges of taking payments in exchange for official favors and conspiring to illegally traffic in firearms. He has pleaded not guilty. As the remaining candidates focus on the best way to clean up Sacramento, Yee's stumble has thrown the June primary competition wide open.